Common Admission Test (CAT) exam is conducted by the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) every year for MBA admission. It has been a mandatory entrance exam for all the MBA aspirants who dream of getting admission IIMs or any other top B-School. IIM is all set to conduct the CAT Exam 2019 soon for the admission for session 2020-2022. Last year in 2018, almost 2.40 Lakh candidates applied and appeared for the CAT. Every year almost 2 Lakh candidates use to appear for the same.

Every year of the 6 IIMs, one use to conduct the CAT exam for the MBA aspirants in India. Whereas for the latest CAT 2019, it has been out the IIM Kozhikode will be conducting the same. Know official notification, the application process, preparation tips, CAT registration, Syllabus, Exam pattern, results and selection details of CAT Exam below.

Highlights of CAT Exam 2019

Common Admission Test has been the one-stop entrance exam to get admission in MBA courses of top B-Schools like IIMs. Any of the 7 IIMs use to conduct the CAT Exam every years and Lakhs of students appear for the same. It will be a Computer-based Test and the total duration will be of 3 hours. All the graduates who have secured a minimum of 50% marks and want to be a Management graduate. Here are the details of the CAT exam-

Conducted by: Indian Institute of Management

CAT Exam Mode: CBT (Computer Based Test)

Official website: www.iimcat.ac.in

Exam for: Admission in MBA/ PGDM courses in top B-Schools

Eligibility: Graduation with at least 50% aggregate marks

Official Notification: July

Exam Date: December

Duration: 3 hours

Not just the IIMs but also the Top B-Schools accept the CAT Score for admissions in MBA courses. Although it’s tough to score great percentile in the exam but for sure your hard work will never let you fail. Check out about the official notification, important dates and other details of the CAT Exam to be held in the year 2019 for the admission for session 2020-22 of MBA/ PGDM courses in the B-Schools.

Official Notification & Important dates of CAT 2019

Every year IIM use to release the official notification for Common Admission Test in the month of July only. Last year, IIM Calcutta conducted the CAT Exam and the official notification was out in the month of July only. In the year 2019, IIM Delhi will be conducting the CAT Exam and tentatively the official notification will be out by 29 July 2019. Although the official notification will consist of the important dates, eligibility criteria, exam pattern, syllabus and instructions for the CAT Exam. Wher for the CAT official notification, aspirants have to look on to the official website on a regular basis, so to avoid any delay.

Official notification of CAT will be out on 29 July on the official website. The aspirant can then fill up the application form from 8 August 2019 and the last date for the same will be 19 September. Applicants can then make a correction in their respective form in between 27 to 30 September 2019. Further IIM will release the admit cards for the same on the official website on 24 October. Whereas the CAT Exam is expected to be held on 24 November 2019. Lastly, the CAT exam result is expected to be out by the second week of January 2020. After the declaration of the result, selected candidates can fill the application of any B-Schools and get the admission. Although these are tentative dates, there may be few changes in the same. Candidates are requested to check the official notification on the website thoroughly.

How to Register or fill the Application Form for CAT Exam?

With the release of the CAT Exam official notification for the year 2019, IIM alert the aspirants for the CAT application. From the registration process to the application filing process, the official notification has it all. Aspirants willing to fill up the CAT exam application form has to read out the notification in details. For those who have been applying for it for the first time has to register themselves.

Registration Process

Firstly the candidates have to visit the official website of CAT and then click on the ‘Registration for New User’ button.

After clicking the same, one has to then fill up the details like- name, DOB, contact details.

Then to verify the mobile number, one will get an OTP on your mobile.

After the verification of the OTP number, applicants will then receive the CAT registration details via which one can move further.

Application process

Once the registration process is done, candidates will then have to login with the ID and password for the filling up the CAT application.

After the login process, applicants will require to fill the personal details, qualification, contact and more to complete the CAT Application.

Then the aspirants have to upload the scanned copies of- Photo, signature, category certificate (SC/ST/ OBC).

Then one has to click on the save and continue button.

Fee Payment

Also, no application will be accepted by the Institutes without the completion of the fee payment. Candidates have to pay an amount of Rs 1800 (general/ OBC) and Rs.900 (SC/ST/ PwD) as a CAT application fee. Check out here, how to pay the application fee via net banking or card for the CAT Exam-

Once the candidate clicks on the save and continue button, he/ she will then move to the application fee page.

Aspirants will have to pay the CAT application fee via online mode only.

Candidates will have to pay the fee via using credit/debit card, net banking, wallet or cash card.

After filling the application fee, student will receive an email related to the application form status.

Candidates must take a print out of the CAT Application form for further reference.

Although completion of the payment mode does not confirm your candidature for the CAT Exam. As the scrutinising and the admit card will only confirm your seat for the CAT Exam. After the downloading of the CAT admit card, applicant will be able to sit for the Common Admission Test. Also before filling the CAT application form, aspirants must need to read the instructions.

Eligibility (Age/ Qualification) Details for the CAT Exam 2019

As far as the eligibility criteria are concerned, candidates who have completed his/her Bachelor’s or any equivalent degree. Also, the student in the final year of Bachelor degree can apply for the CAT Exam. Whereas the aspirant must have obtained an aggregate of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA, although candidates belonging to SC/ST/ PwD category must have 45% marks or equivalent CGPA. Even there is no age bar to appear or apply for the same.

Further, even those who have possessed equivalent exam recognised by MHRD, Government of India that includes AMICE of the Institution of Civil Engineers are also eligible for the CAT Exam. Whereas more details regarding the same can be checked on the official website of CAT for the year 2019.

CAT Exam Admit Card & Steps to Download it

Further, admit cards for CAT 2019 is expected to be out in the month of October. Most probably the CAT admit cards for 2019 will be released by the second of October month. Almost a month prior to the exam date, IIM releases the hall ticket for the registered for CAT Exam. Although the applicants have to download the CAT admit card from the official website only, none of the hard copies will be sent by post to any of the candidate. Here are the steps to download CAT Admit card 2019 from the official website-

Firstly one has to open the official website and login with the help of registration details.

After the login, one has to click on the link stating- ‘download CAT admit card’

Once the same is opened, one can click on the download button and take the print out of it.

Applicant have to carry the hard copy of the hall tickets to the exam centre, as no one will be allowed to enter the centre without the same. Whereas at the time of admission and counselling the same will be retained by the exam supervisor. CAT Admit cards will contain details like- name, roll number, timing and exam centre details of the candidates. The applicants will get a month to download the CAT Admit card.

Preparation Tips

From books to previous year question paper, mock test to self-study, the CAT aspirants must go through all of it during their preparation. The toppers have mentioned few tips to be followed by the candidates during the preparation for CAT Exam.

Firstly one has to choose the best books for the CAT Exam (subject-wise): For VARC aspirants can opt for Arihant book of verbal ability, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT, How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT. Whereas for DILR preparation candidates can go for books like- How to prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT, How to prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT, CAT Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT and Other material for CAT preparation on DILR like a mock test, practice papers. Further for the Quant section, one can buy books like- Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal, Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT and How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT.

Other than the books, candidates can prepare for the Common Admission Test via previous year question papers, mock test and much more. From 2019 onwards, IIMs have incorporated few changes in the mock test, like it has released separate CAT mock test navigation guide, separate login link for candidates with normal vision and low vision with 2 magnifying glass icon at the top of the screen to make the candidate understand the question clearly.

Syllabus and Question Paper Pattern for CAT 2019

As far as the syllabus is concerned for the CAT exam, from last 3 years IIM has changed a lot it the syllabus of the same. Although the biggest amendment is the type of question in the CAT question paper and now there is no penalty question. The much changes that are taken in the same are for the VARC section. A number of questions and topics have been changed under the VARC section. Also, IIM has introduced a few changes in the Quantitative Ability section.

The question paper of CAT Exam will be divided into 3 different section- VARC, DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning) and Quantitative Ability. VARC section of the CAT exam will contain a total of 34 questions and will be of 102 marks. The second section that is DILR will have 32 questions and the total marks will be 96. Further, the last section of Quantitative Ability will consist of 34 questions of total 102 marks. All the sections will consist of MCQ as well as Non-MCQs. As far as marking scheme is considered, 3 marks will be allotted to each correct answer. WHereas there will be no negative marking for the subjective question, but 1 marks will be deducted for each incorrect MCQ answer. The CAT exam will be held via CBT mode (Computer based Test)

Further VARC will be divided into 2 parts i.e Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension which will have 10 questions and 24 questions respectively. Also, RC will include questions from current affairs, business & economics, English literature book passage, Passages on Science & culture and the VA will have questions- jumbled paragraphs, the essence of para summary, critical reasoning, error correction, analogies, fill in the blanks, irrelevant statements, sentence completion and more.

CAT Exam Centre details

When it comes to CAT exam, IIM use to conduct it in various exam centers across India. At the time of filing of the application, applicants will have to opt for 4 preferred exam centers for CAT. Out of the 4 preferred exam centers, candidates will be allocated one of them to sit for their CAT exam. There will be almost 400+ CAT centers in India and Lakhs of candidates will appear for the same.

Candidates will get to know their desired exam centre via the CAT admit card only. The admit card of the respective candidate will hold the address of the exam centre for the Common Admission Test. Also the same will not be changed in any case by the IIM. Even the candidates have to reach the assigned CAT exam centre half an hour before to the actual time of the exam.

Check out how to get your CAT Result 2019

After the completion of the CAT exam, the aspirant will have to wait for the declaration of the result. IIM will declare the CAT result for the year 2019 by the second week of January 2020. The CAT scorecard will contain the overall percentile and section wise marks obtained by the candidates. Here’s are the steps how to download the CAT Result 2019 from the official website-

Firstly one has to login with the CAT website and select the option ‘download scorecard’.

Then has to enter the User ID and password

Then further on the same page, one can download the CAT scorecard and check their respective result.

Candidates are requested to take a print out of the CAT result for further reference as well.

The CAT 2019 will only be valid for the admission process for the session 2020-2022 for more than 50 MBA programmes. That means the CAT (Common Admission Test) result is only valid for the current academic year.

Cut-off & Selection Process of CAT Exam

Indian Institute of Management uses to release the cut-off details for the admission process after the declaration of CAT result only. Although each IIM will announce the list of shortlisted candidates separately for the further selection process. Also, the candidates have to pass the section-wise and overall to be eligible for the selection process. Whereas the overall cut-off of the IIMs fall in between 90 to 99 percentile.

The top 3 IIMs, that is Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata have their cut-off at 99 percentile, even IIM Lucknow has its cut-off at 99 percentile. Whereas IIM Bombay, Kozhikode and Indore have a cut-off of 98, 96 and 94 percentile respectively. Even other B-Schools, that accept CAT score also release their cut-off after the result only. Candidates are requested to check the respective institute website for the same. If not IIM, then as well, CAT score can help you to take admission in any of the best B-Schools in India.

Once the candidates fulfil the cut-off criteria, then only he/she move on to the next step of the selection process for the admission. Here are the further selection process for CAT aspirants-

Candidates then have to prepare for the GD/ PI and WAT rounds for the IIM or any B-School admission.

In the WAT round, candidates will have to write an essay on the given topic in just 30 minutes.

Further in GD (Group Discussion) round, the candidates will be divided into a group of 8-10 members and they have to discuss on the provided topic.

Lastly, in the PI (Personal interview) round, the candidates will be interviewed by 4-8 judges.

Finally, after all this, the panel decides whether the candidates fit for the chosen MBA Programme or not. Then, the institutes release the final merit list on which the Institute announces the name of the selected candidates for the respective MBA programmes.

Some More Instruction to be Followed

Here are some more instructions and details to be followed by the candidates appearing for the CAT exam. Check it all out here-

The CAT exam will be carried out in 2 sessions, one will be in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Even the candidates will be given a 1-1 hour to complete one section at a time.

Aspirants will have to carry their admit card and photo ID proof along with them to the exam centre.

Even the aspirants will not be allowed to take along any electronic items inside the CAT exam centre.

Also, the applicants must reach to the exam centre at least half an hour prior to the exam timing.

CAT has been the most common exam for the aspirants planning to get admission in any of the MBA programmes. Be it finance, banking, international business, retail management, Human resource, marketing, Entrepreneurship and more, one can opt from 50 different specializations of the same. Other than CAT, MAT and XAT are the other exams that help management candidates to get admission in B-Schools. Although for further more and precise details, the aspirants have to go through the official website and notification of Common Admission Test for the year 2019.

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Gurjit Kaur is a young and vibrant writer, who is passionate about media. Having done her MBA in media management, Gurjit loves to weave words in simple yet an elegant form. Her love for Chandigarh and the belief that "content is king" makes her an author on Chandigarh Metro. You may reach Gurjit at hello@chandigarhmetro.com